A Texas femboy says the DMV revoked his “I <3 Yaoi” license plate

This story originally appeared on Them.

As if people didn’t hate the DMV enough, a Texas femboy and car enthusiast is sounding the alarm about the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles apparently declaring war on yaoi, so to speak.

Content creator aSpicyCow, known only as Amber, posted a video to his social media profiles detailing the incident on July 10. In the 25 second clip, he holds up what appears to be a letter from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and declares, “Texas is stripping us of our rights!” The video goes on to show Amber’s Toyota GR Supra (whatever that means) with an “I <3 YAOI” custom plate. A truly incredible sight to behold — but alas, Amber claims that the Texas DMV sent a letter to notify him that someone submitted a complaint about the plate, and that it was found “indecent.”

Sadly, the days of the “I <3 YAOI” Texas license plate are seemingly numbered — Amber says the notice additionally claims that the plate would be cancelled 30 days from the date of the letter.

For those who are unfamiliar, yaoi is a Japanese term that originally referred to comics depicting gay male relationships, often explicitly — though if you’re here, we’re sure you know a little something about this. Of course, there have always been little freaks in the United States who have been into yaoi, most often found sitting directly on the floor in the manga aisle of your local Barnes and Noble, but the term has gained new life over the past few years. Even though Heated Rivalry, for example, is neither Japanese nor a comic, people have applied the term “yaoi” to the TV show. Subsequently, it has, of course, launched a thousand fujoshi, another yaoi-adjacent term that we frankly don’t have time to get into right now. (The good news? We’ve got yet another beautiful explainer about that one for you.)

But of course, any diva who would dare to request an “I <3 YAOI” license plate in Texas of all places can’t be kept down. As the grand finale to this epic saga, Amber said, “Whatever Karen filed a complaint, just know I always come back and I come back stronger.” And good news: he’s got a hot pink “BOY <3 KISR” license plate now.

While the veracity of the letter is as yet unconfirmed, we’ve reached out to both Amber and the Texas DMV to get to the bottom of this. Texas cancelling such a plate due to “indecency” also wouldn’t be the most surprising thing in the world, given that the state has been leading the charge in terms of the United States’ renewed wave of transphobia and homophobia.

Them has reached out to Amber and the Texas DMV for comment.

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